• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.489-508
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• 2018

As climate changes, it is necessary to predict changes in the habitat environment in order to establish more aggressive adaptation strategies. The bioclimatic classification which clusters of areas with similar habitats can provide a useful ecosystem management framework. Therefore, in this study, biological habitat environment of Northeast Asia was identified through the establishment of the bioclimatic zones, and the impac of climate change on the biological habitat was analyzed. An ISODATA clustering was used to classify Northeast Asia (NEA)into 15 bioclimatic zones, and climate change impacts were predicted by projecting the future spatial distribution of bioclimatic zones based upon an ensemble of 17 GCMs across RCP4.5 and 8.5 scenarios for 2050s, and 2070s. Results demonstrated that significant changes in bioclimatic conditions can be expected throughout the NEA by 2050s and 2070s. The overall zones moved upward, and some zones were predicted to be greatly expanded or shrunk where we suggested as regions requiring intensive management. This analysis provides the basis for understanding potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem. Also, this could be used more effectively to support decision making on climate change adaptation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.474-481
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• 2007

With population growth, industrialization, and urbanization within the watershed, the hydrologic response changed dramatically, resulting in increases in peak flow with lesser time to peak and total runoff with shortened time of concentration. Infiltration is directly affected by initial soil moisture condition, which is a key element to determine runoff. Influence of the initial soil moisture condition on hydrograph analysis should be evaluated to assess land use change impacts on runoff and non-point source pollution characteristics. The Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-THIA) model has been widely used for the estimation of the direct runoff worldwide. The L-THIA model was applied to the Little Eagle Creek (LEC) watershed and Its estimated direct runoff values were compared with the BFLOW filtered direct runoff values by other researchers. The $R^2$ value Was 0.68 and the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient value was 0.64. Also, the L-THIA estimates were compared with those separated using optimized $BFI_{max}$ value for the Eckhardt filter. The $R^2$ value and the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient value were 0.66 and 0.63, respectively. Although these higher statistics could indicate that the L-THIA model is good in estimating the direct runoff reasonably well, the Antecedent Moisture Condition (AMC) was not adjusted in that study, which might be responsible for mismatches in peak flow between the L-THIA estimated and the measured peak values. In this study, the L-THIA model was run with AMC adjustment for direct runoff estimation. The $R^2$ value was 0.80 and the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient value was 0.78 for the comparison of L-THIA simulated direct runoff with the filtered direct runoff. However there was 42.44% differences in the L-THIA estimated direct runoff and filtered direct runoff. This can be explained in that about 80% of the simulation period is classified as 'AMC I' condition, which caused lower CN values and lower direct runoff estimation. Thus, the coefficients of the equation to adjust CN II to CN I and CN III depending on AMC condition were modified to minimize adjustments impacts on runoff estimation. The $R^2$ and the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient values increase, 0.80 and 0.80 respectively. The difference in the estimated and filtered direct runoff decreased from 42.44% to 7.99%. The results obtained in this study indicate the AMC needs to be considered for accurate direct runoff estimation using the L-THIA model. Also, more researches are needed for realistic adjustment of the AMC in the L-THIA model.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.218-227
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• 2023

Background: Since 2019, the Ministry of Environment has implemented a seasonal fine dust management system from December to March, targeting high PM_2.5 levels with the aim of reducing PM_2.5 concentrations and protecting public health. The focus of improving the seasonal management system lies in the atmospheric PM_2.5 levels. Considering the primary goal of protecting public health, it is necessary to analyze the policy effects from an exposure perspective rather than a concentration-based approach. Objectives: This study aims to quantitatively assess the improvement of indoor PM_2.5 levels and the health impacts of the seasonal management system by comparing the periods before and during its implementation in residential environments. Methods: PM_2.5 concentrations within residential environments in a metropolitan area were measured using an optical particle counter (IAQ-C7, K-weather, Ltd, Korea) at one-minute intervals during the pre-implementation period (November 21~25, 2022) and during the implementation period (December 19~23, 2022). Based on the measured PM_2.5 concentrations, a quantitative evaluation of cancer and mortality risks was conducted according to age and gender. Results: The results of comparing indoor and outdoor PM_2.5 concentrations before and during the implementation of the seasonal management system showed a decrease of approximately 56.6% and 47.9%, respectively. Health risk assessments revealed that both the safety-limit-based and safety-target-based Hazard Quotients (HQ) exceeded the threshold of 0.1 for children under 19 years of age, both before and after the implementation. The mortality risk decreased by approximately 47.9% after the implementation, with children aged 0-9 showing the highest mortality risk at 0.9%. Conclusions: The findings of this study confirmed the positive health impacts of the seasonal management system across all age groups, particularly children under 19 who are more vulnerable to fine dust exposure.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.612-620
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• 2016

Aqueous mineral carbonation process, in which $CO_2$ is captured through the reaction with aqueous calcium oxide (CaO) solution, is one of CCU technology enabling the stable sequestration of $CO_2$ as well as economic value creation from its products. In order to enhance the carbon capture efficiency, it is required to maximize the dissolution rate of solid reactants, CaO. For this purpose, the proper design of a reactor, which can achieve the uniform distribution of solid reactants throughout the whole reactor, is essential. In this paper, the effect of internal reactor designs on the solid dispersion quality is studied by using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) techniques for the pilot-scale reactor which can handle 40 ton of $CO_2$ per day. Various combination cases consisting of different internal design variables, such as types, numbers, diameters, clearances and speed of impellers and length and width of baffles are analyzed for the stirred tank reactor with a fixed tank geometry. By conducting sensitivity analysis, we could distinguish critical variables and their impacts on solid distribution. At the same time, the reactor design which can produce solid distribution profile with a standard deviation value of 0.001 is proposed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1656-1664
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• 2009

Bioaugmentation of bioreactors focuses on the removal of numerous organics, with little attention typically paid to the maintenance of high and stable nitrite accumulation in partial nitrification. In this study, a bioaugmented membrane bioreactor (MBR) inoculated with enriched ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was developed, and the effects of dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature on the stability of partial nitrification and microbial community structure, in particular on the nitrifying community, were evaluated. The results showed that DO and temperature played the most important roles in the stability of partial nitrification in the bioaugmented MBR. The optimal operation conditions were found at 2-3 mgDO/l and $30^{\circ}C$, achieving 95% ammonia oxidization efficiency and nitrite ratio ($NO_2^-/{NO_x}^-$) of 0.95. High DO (5-6 mg/l) and low temperature ($20^{\circ}C$) had negative impacts on nitrite accumulation, leading to nitrite ratio drop to 0.6. However, the nitrite ratio achieved in the bioaugmented MBR was higher than that in most previous literatures. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were used to provide an insight into the microbial community. It showed that Nitrosomonas-like species as the only detected AOB remained predominant in the bioaugmented MBR all the time, and coexisted with numerous heterotrophic bacteria. The heterotrophic bacteria responsible for mineralizing soluble microbial products (SMP) produced by nitrifiers belonged to the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB) group, and $\alpha$-, $\beta$-, and $\gamma$- Proteobacteria. The fraction of AOB ranging from 77% to 54% was much higher than that of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (0.4-0.9%), which might be the primary cause for the high and stable nitrite accumulation in the bioaugmented MBR.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2023

Golden apple snails (Pomacea canaliculat) (GAS) are widely used for weed control in rice cultivation. However, concerns on the ecological risk of invasive GAS species are increasing. This study aimed to evaluate the overall impacts of GAS on weed control, abundance of aquatic animals and insects, and rice yield, in comparison with that from other biocontrol agents such as loach (Misgurnus mizolepis) and catfish (Silurus asotus), which are alternatives for biological weed control in rice paddy cultivation. Field experiments included five treatments; control, herbicide, GAS, loach, and catfish. During the rice growth, weed appearance and biological abundance were monitored, and at harvest, the rice yield was determined. Weed control efficiency was the highest for GAS treatment (100%), followed by that for herbicide (95.8%), loach (57.5%), and catfish treatments (31.7%). Insect abundance was considerably decreased in GAS treatment due to heavy weed removal, which affects the habitat of aquatic animals and insects. The amount of rice yield (unit: kg 10 a^-1) was in the order of GAS (798.9) > loach (708.1) = herbicide (700.7) > catfish (629.4) > control (496.0). Therefore, considering the weed control efficiency, biological abudance, and rice yield, loach could be a potential alternative for biological weed control in organic rice farming. However, the activity of the biocontrol agents are susceptible to environmental conditions; therefore, further studies under different conditions are essential to confirm these findings.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.22 no.2 s.55
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• pp.84-97
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• 1983

Under the limited arable land, the enhancement of agricultural productivity is indispensable to provide the food demand which is concomitant with the rapid increase in population. From this viewpoint, the upbringing and dissemination of high-yielding varieties has been promoted continuously and several modifications in cultural practices, including heavy fertilization, dense planting, and early transplanting, also have been gradually developed. However these changes in cultivation have led to the increased outbreak of insect pests and diseases. And this unexpected results have accelerated the number and complexity of pesticides employed as well as their consumption. Even though pesticides are essential materials contributing to the steady production of agricultural crops, large scale consumption of them has given rise to several adverse impacts, such as mammalian hazard and/or environmental contamination. In this respect, recent development of new pesticides has been concentrated on 'safe pesticide', as it were, that has the highly selective properties without unfavorable side influences on other ecosystem. According to literature cited up to now, feasibilities of safe pesticide development would be summarized as two categories. One of them is the development of chemical pesticides, which include the molecular structure modification of established pesticides for increased safety and synthesis of new safe chemicals which can attack the vulnerable point of physio-ecological characteristics in insect pests and diseases. The other is the biological pesticides which comprise natural enemies and microorganisms to act selectively on confined insect pests and diseases, In addition, improvement of physico-chemical properties of available pesticide formulations would be one of the desirable means for safe pesticide development in view of efficacy enhancement and minimization of hazardous properties or safe pesticide development, various approaches are feasible and needed to study, however, long period and much financial outlay are necessary to develop a new item. And under the present situation in Korea, there are many difficulties for performing research on all the possible routes. Therefore, combined pesticides by the reasonable combination of already registered resticides evaluated as the fairly safe pesticides and safe formulation based on their physico-chemical properties would be developed primarily. And many efforts would be given gradually for the development of new chemical and biological pesticides.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.229-237
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• 2008

Recently, parabens have been believed to act as xenoestrogens, an identified class of endocrine disruptors (EDs). These environmental compounds are the most well-known as preservatives in many commercial products, including food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. It has been demonstrated that the human health risks of parabens result from a long-term exposure to skin in which this chemical group is rapidly absorbed through the skin. On the other hand, parabens are also completely absorbed from gastrointestinal tract. It has reported that these substances possess several biological effects in which inhibitory property involved in membrane transports and mitochondrial functions is considered to be important for their action. Testing of parabens has revealed that estrogen-like activities of these chemicals are much less potent than natural estrogen, $17{\beta}$ estradiol (E2). Additionally, the estrogenicity of individual paraben- compounds is distinct depending upon their biochemical structure. Recent findings of paraben-estrogenic activities have shown that these compounds may affect breast cancer incidence in women, suggesting adverse ecological outcomes of this environmental group on human and animal health. Although the biological and toxicological effects of parabens have been demonstrated in many previous studies, possible mechanism(s) of their action are required to be explored in order to bring the better understanding in the detrimental impacts of parabens in human and wildlife. There have several different types of parabens which are the most widely used as preservatives. These include methyl-paraben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben and p-hydroxybenzoic acid, a major metabolite of parabens. In this review, we summarize current database based on in vitro and in vivo assays for estrogenic activities and health risk assessment of paraben- EDs which have been published previously.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.279-283
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• 2004

To lily (Lilium longflorum cv. Georgia) pollen, impacts by some physical, chemical and biological factors were examined in respects of its growth and transient gene expression via agro-infiltration. Rolling movement in liquid medium or vacuum pressure during Agro-infiltration was regarded as a impact that should be minimized for normal pollen growth. Pollen growth was maintained well in relatively broad range of temperature (19 to 27$^{\circ}C$) or pH (5.0 to 8.0). Chemical factors such as cefotaxime (up to 300mg/L), acetosyringone (up to 800 $\mu$M) and syringealdehyde (up to 800 $\mu$M) did not show any harmful effects but kanamycin severely did even at concentration as low as 25mg/L in some cases. For GUS gene expression, acetosyringone at 200 to 400 $\mu$M slightly improved the efficiency while syringealdehyde did not. Brief agro-infiltration followed by 18 hr of co-incubation of pollen along with Agrobacterium was suggested as a condition basically required for the transient expression system using lily pollen regardless of the presence of acetosyringone.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.128-134
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• 2015

Objectives To examine the relationship between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and body mass index (BMI) of obese children. Methods This cross-sectional study included 387 children. HRQoL was measured with the PedsQLTM 4.0 Generic Core Scale. BMI was classified according to the World Health Organization Asia-Pacific obesity guidelines. Psychosocial factors (body image, self-esteem, and depression/anxiety) were also measured. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation and Path analysis. Results Obese participants reported lower score for physical evaluation, self-esteem, appearance evaluation component of body image, total HRQoL score, and physical/emotional/social function components of HRQoL ; they reported higher score for depression/anxiety. In addition, results indicated that as BMI increased, appearance evaluation, total HRQoL score, and social function component of HRQoL dropped. Path analysis revealed that BMI did not directly affect HRQoL ; however, BMI directly affects body image and self-esteem, indirectly mediates depression/anxiety, and thereby impacts on an individual's HRQoL. Conclusions Body image and self-esteem, rather than BMI itself, have more influence on HRQoL. This reinforces the importance of therapeutic intervention to enhance body image and self-esteem among obese children.